Along with installing a home or business security alarm system, one of the most important ways to prevent intruders from targeting your property is by making your home or business unappealing to burglars or vandals. It’s a kind of reverse curb appeal – landscaping that also makes your property look well groomed and well taken care of can also reduce its potential appeal to intruders.

A potential intruder evaluates the house or business he or she may be considering, to see just how viable that property is for his purposes. Noting the presence of a security system will certainly deter burglary as well as stopping a burglar in his tracks. Noting the landscaping of a piece of property can also be a significant deterrent. If a house or business has a clear sight line to the street and offers few hiding places for a would-be intruder, that will discourage him from selecting your property. If a property is well lit, or utilizes motion-triggered lighting, that will also discourage an intruder.

So, be sure to keep trees, shrubs and bushes trimmed and neat. Not only will this eliminate places for the intruder to hide when actually attempting to enter a property, it will also eliminate places for the intruder to hide when simply examining or studying the property, looking for access. In addition, unkempt trees can offer branches that reach to windows or upstairs porches and provide just the sort of access a would-be intruder desires.

Also, be sure to garden regularly. An over grown lawn or a weedy garden may be a signal to an intruder that the house may not be regularly occupied. And if you are out of town, be sure to have a gardener provide regular upkeep to keep potential intruders from thinking you may be away. As an adjunct to regular garden care, be sure any stray flyers or newspapers are picked up by neighbors or friends if you’ll be away. Leaving such often unsolicited ‘free’ junk mail to pile up will signal potential intruders that your home or business may be an unattended, easy target.

And while you’re caring for your outdoor space, be sure to put away the tools you’re using when you’re done. Don’t leave lawn furniture or ladders lying about where they could assist a burglar in entering your home through a window or upper level door or porch.

In selecting the type of landscaping for your property, consider placing gravel or stones around your windows or doors. This material crunches under a footstep, alerting residents to the presence of a potential burglar. And it alerts burglars to the fact that they can be easily heard when approaching. Another deterrent: planting rose bushes or hawthorne hedges near windows. These plants have thorns. No one, not even a burglar, chooses to be scratched and cut by this type of plant.

Lastly, be sure to keep your property well lit. A motion detected lighting system that illuminates the exterior of your property will be another essential tool in discouraging intruders from targeting your property.

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